1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an imaging apparatus, and, more particularly, to a method of edge-to-edge imaging with an imaging apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
An imaging apparatus forms an image on a sheet of print media, such as for example, paper or a transparency, by applying ink or toner onto the print medium. Such an imaging apparatus, in the form of an ink jet printer, forms an image on the sheet of print media by ejecting ink from a plurality of ink jetting nozzles of an ink jet printhead to form a pattern of ink dots on the print medium. Such an ink jet printer typically includes a reciprocating printhead carrier that transports one or more ink jet printheads across the sheet of print media that is supported by a mid-frame along a bi-directional scanning path defining a print zone of the ink jet printer.
For an ink jet printer that is capable of printing in an edge-to-edge mode, a waste ink collection trough, which may include one or more individual reservoirs, is used to capture waste ink along the edges of the sheet of print media in the print zone to prevent inking of the printer mid-frame. The trough is typically designed to be able to capture all of the waste ink that is ejected during edge-to-edge printing over the life of the printer. However, typically there is a physical limitation to the volume that can be used for the waste ink collection trough. If the waste ink collection trough fills completely, then the print quality will degrade to the point that the printer will need to be replaced due to ink smearing onto subsequent sheets of print media. Further, due to media location uncertainty, the edge-to-edge printing algorithm requires a worst-case overspray of ink to insure adequate coverage at the edges, i.e., leading, trailing and lateral edges, of the sheet of print media. For example, if the media size tolerance is +/−1 millimeter (mm) and the media location tolerance is +/−1 mm, then both of these tolerances are added together to determine how far beyond the nominal edge of the sheet of print media that the print swath needs to be extended, or stretched.
One attempt to reduce the amount of waste ink in edge-to-edge printing is to measure the sheet of print media to determine the dimensions of the sheet of print media before generating data for the print job. This measurement is performed by advancing the sheet of print media to a measurement location and then backing the paper up to a print start location prior to beginning the actual printing operation.
What is needed in the art is a method of edge-to-edge imaging with an imaging apparatus, which may dynamically determine the location of the lateral edges of a sheet of print media relative to the mid-frame of the imaging apparatus.